1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to paging services, and more particularly, to transmitting advertisements in conjunction with paging messages.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In basic one-way paging, an individual who desires to have someone paged simply places a telephone call via any type telephony system such as a land line system or a wireless system. The telephone call is typically routed to an interactive voice response unit (IVR) of the company providing the paging service. The IVR requests certain information from the caller, such as the identification code of the individual to be paged and then provides the caller with a number of options, including the types of paging services available to the individual to be paged, for example, the type of message. Once the particular type of message is selected by the caller, e.g., text, numeric and/or voice, the message is transmitted to a central computer system of the company providing the paging service. The central computer system verifies the identity of the individual being paged and determines the type of paging service the individual has, including whether it is a local service or national service (nationwide). If it is determined that the individual has local service, then the central computer system transmits the message to a transmitting station in the local area which the individual who is to be paged has selected. The transmitting station then broadcasts the message so that the receiver of the paging unit receives the message if it is within the range of the transmitting station. If, however, it is determined that the individual has broader than local service, for example, nationwide service, then the central computer system uplinks the message to a satellite which in turn relays the message to all transmitting stations. Each of the transmitting stations then broadcasts the message. The paging unit will receive the message from the transmitting station it is closest to. Depending on the type of paging unit and how it is programmed, it may be capable of receiving various types of messages.
Enhanced one-way paging units, i.e., units capable of only receiving messages, and enhanced two-way paging units, i.e., units capable of sending messages as well as receiving messages, have the capability to transmit a locator signal back to the central computer system. Since the central computer system receives the locator signal, it knows the present location of the paging unit and can direct messages for that unit to the closest transmitting station rather than as a broadcast message.
Although companies which provide paging services/paging units are continuously improving the quality of the service and the paging units as well as increasing the number of services offered, the largest single customer complaint with paging service today is the cost. Customers are continuously looking for ways to reduce the monthly cost of their paging service. Typically, customers are charged with a recurring monthly fee for leasing the equipment, the monthly service fee, which usually includes some free usage time, and for any additional features that are available, such as voicemail. Over and above these monthly fees, customers are charged for each occurrence of messages that are sent via operator dispatch and each character over their free usage limit. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the cost of paging services.